Clarkdale Elementary School

When Atlanta was hit with massive flooding last fall, it wasn’t just the creeks, roads and homes that were disastrously affected. Several schools, including Clarkdale Elementary School in Cobb County, also were irrevocably drowned in the flood waters.

Now, the Cobb County Board of Education is ready to do something about its overly soaked school building.
Nearly six months since the damaging flood, a recent vote approving the rebuild of Clarkdale Elementary gives proponents of the measure something to smile about. The Board agreed to relocate the school from its current location to a site adjacent to Cooper Middle School, between Ewing Road and Flint Hill Road in Austell.

At a public forum on Feb. 2, district officials offered up three solutions for the displacement of Clarkdale students, including absorption into other schools, rebuilding at the same site and rebuilding next to Cooper. The move next to Cooper was the most heavily favored by local residents and parents of students.

At it’s recent meeting, the Board accepted the appointment of Cunningham, Forehand, Matthews & Moore, Architects, Inc., of the Atlanta architectural firm to design the new building. However, they stipulated they should have prior approval of the plans before any concept is put out to bid. Possible plans may include a larger school footprint, with up to 53 classrooms that will allow for much needed redistricting of overcrowding at Hollydale, Sanders and other nearby elementary schools.

Though the floor-to-ceiling flood of Clarkdale took place Sept. 21, 2009, the Board is only now able to move forward after months of negotiation with insurance companies and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. They have also used this time to allocate state capitol outlay and Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax funds. FEMA originally took issue with the school’s move to the Copper Middle site, but has since recanted and agreed to help fund the rebuild at the new site.

Cobb County School District Communications Specialist, Doug Goodwin, did not have an exact date when groundbreaking is expected to begin. However, once underway, construction will take at least 18 months.
Students, who have been relocated to Compton Elementary and Austell Intermediate for the time being, won’t be utilizing the new school for at least another two years.
 

- by Christine Foster, Atlanta Reporter for HelloMetro  (Click to leave a message)

Christine Foster

Christine is a freelance writer currently living in North Atlanta. She has worked as a reporter for numerous newspaper, magazine and online media companies, including the Florida Keys Keynoter and The Sunday Paper in Atlanta. When she's not working Christine enjoys baking and antiquing.